Bright Horizon
by banishthegloom
Summary: Punky's search for her mom gets her sent to Mount Horizon High School.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear Cherie,_

_How are you? My new high school, Mount Horizon, isn't so bad. It is kind of like summer camp, and also kind of not. We are out in nature a lot, which I like. There sure are a lot of chores here though. We have classes like a regular school. I miss you and Margaux. _

_If Henry knew the friends I am making here, he would go ballistic. These are the type of kids that we are always warned to stay away from, the "bad influences". The thing is that is the only type of friends I can make here. Otherwise I would be completely alone. A lot of times I can't even tell they are the bad influence type, until I hear them talk in group that is. I guess now I am the bad influence type too. I can't tell you how many times I have had to say I got sent here for stealing a car. That isn't the whole story of course, but it takes a while to get to that type of thing. _

_One girl is in here for selling weight loss drugs to all the girls in her class. She is one of those friends that don't seem like the type. Remember when we joined the Chicklets and they wanted us to take drugs? She reminds me a little of them. They sure didn't seem like the type either. If they did we would have never joined their club in the first place._

_I wish you were here, but I am also glad you aren't stuck here like I am. I can't believe everything got so out of control so fast._

_Lots of hugs,_

_Punky_


	2. Chapter 2

One month ago…

Fifteen year old Punky Brewster spent every bit of money she earned from her after school job on finding her mom. Punky just knew she had to be out there somewhere. It had been a long time since Punky was abandoned and she had come to terms with the fact that her mom was unlikely to come back for her. That is why, among other things, Punky hired a private detective. When the phone rang and the detective told her about a person he thought was her mother, Punky jumped into action.

Racing down the stairs and out to the sidewalk and then hailing a cab. She didn't even think to leave Henry a note. She normally would have but the detective had told her that her mom, or at least the person that might be her mom was in the city but that she had a flight booked. She would be leaving in just two hours. Punky had to see her, had to talk to her before she got on that plane.

As she sat in the cab, Punky thought about the different things she might say when she finally seen her mother again. She had thought about this a lot, the last few months especially so. She didn't really know what she would say because she had thought of so many different things, but she did know that the first thing would be how happy she was to see her again. And a hug. She would definitely hug her at that point.

All the sudden she seen someone sitting outside on the patio of one of the cafes in town. It's her! Punky thought. She couldn't get a good look but she was almost positive. She told the cab driver to let her off there and quickly paid him. The woman was on the move. Punky rushed after her.

"Susan! Susan!" Punky called out. She wasn't sure if her mom would recognize her or not but she thought after such a long time of not hearing the word mom, that she would probably not respond to it. So Punky ran and called. The woman was fast for someone in heels. All of the sudden the woman stepped on the bus and the bus doors closed. The bus was off before she could blink.

Punky frantically looked around for a cab but there were no unoccupied ones in sight. All Punky could think of was how desperately she needed to talk to her mom again. She seen an empty car that someone had left the keys in the ignition of. A flicker of doubt crossed her mind, but the desperate urge to see her mom again chased it away. Punky got into the car and drove after the bus.

Punky's only thought was that she had to get to her mom before she left, she just had to. She had only started driver's ed recently and knew enough to drive that car safely. Unfortunately she was driving way above the speed limit in her pursuit. Oh no…Punky thought as she seen the police lights behind her. But she couldn't pull over now, not when she was so close to seeing her mom again.

She continued chasing after the bus, paying little attention to anything else. Suddenly she seen a police car in the road in front of her turned sideways. They had blocked her in. She pulled over. Despite the trouble she was in the only thing she was still thinking of was her mom. When the police questioned her she just kept talking about her mom. That was probably what got Punky sent to Horizon instead of jail. Even the judge was worried about her state of mind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Now Henry," Mrs. Johnson said, "You can't send Punky to a place like that without supplies! Isn't that right Cherie?"

"That's right Grandma. The brochure said there'd be camping and hiking and canoeing and all sort of things. I almost wish I could go." Cherie agreed.

"Now Punky being sent to this Mount Horizon High School is a bad thing, but we have to do our best to make her stay there go as well as possible. I can't believe those doggone cops wouldn't let you be the one to take her there Henry." Mrs. Johnson said.

"I know. As if she would run away if I were the one to take her." Henry said shaking his head.

"Well, she does have a history of it." Cherie said. Both adults looked at her. "I'm just saying, she ran from Fenster Hall twice. She did wait until she got there though." Cherie continued in her defense.

"Well we will just have to do the next best thing and follow the cop car up to the school." Mrs., Johnson stated.

"I completely agree Betty." Henry said.

"I'm glad to hear it Henry." Mrs. Johnson said.

"I just don't think she needs all this." Henry went on.

"Why not? She already has it. It doesn't say whether the school provides these things or not. Would you deny Punky her chances to have fun at what is little more than an outdoor jail?" Mrs. Johnson persisted.

"Fine. Fine." Henry finally agreed. "We'll take it all."

"Can I go up to see Punky off? Please grandma?" Cherie asked.

"Of course sweet potato. We are all going tomorrow. Punky needs all the friends she can get before going into that place." Mrs. Johnson assured her.

The next day the police car carrying Punky pulled into the parking lot of Mount Horizon High School. An over cluttered car with a rainbow canoe followed it. Peter almost laughed at the sight of the second car. It made him think of an old comedy movie where a family went on vacation. The police officer got out of his car and then opened the back door. Punky jumped out right away, almost startling the officer.

"Wow. This place is neat. The whole time I was looking out the window I couldn't wait to get outside. There's nothing for miles and miles." Punky exclaimed in wonder to no one in particular.

"Hello there. I am Peter Scarbrow. Director of Horizon." Peter said stepping near where the teen in brightly coloured clothing was. At the same time, Peter seen an elder man, a woman, and another teen step out of the car with the rainbow canoe on top. He thought maybe they were lost and looking for the camp ground that was a few miles away.

"I'm Punky Brewster." Punky said shaking Peter's hand. "This is my dad, Henry. My best friend, Cherie. And that's Cherie's grandma, Mrs. Johnson." Punky introduced. Peter suddenly realized that the situation was odd. It was rare for a parent to follow when a new student was brought to Horizon via police car and it was even stranger for her friend to show up to see her off.

"Hello there, Mr. Scarbrow. I hope you don't mind. We all just had to see Punky off. And bring her things." Henry said.

"Oh well, of course. It is nice to see that Punky has such support at home. Please, call me Peter. We are pretty informal when it comes to names around here." Peter replied.

"Then you can call me Henry." Henry said.

"And you can call me Betty." Mrs. Johnson spoke up and shook Peter's hand. "Punky's got support like you said. And people who will know if she gets mistreated in any way out here at your school." She continued with a serious glare.

"Well, we should start Punky's admittance process. Would the rest of you like a tour?" Peter offered.

"We would." Mrs. Johnson quickly answered. She wanted to see the place was suitable. If not they could try to appeal or something.

"Okay, ah, Sophie." Peter called over to Sophie and she came over. "Punky's family and friends would like the tour so if you could do Punky's admittance…unless you'd prefer to do the tour." He continued.

"I'll do the tour." Sophie said. She thought she was better at reassuring parents about Horizon than Peter was, though she knew he though opposite.

"Okay, then Sophie will give you the tour. After you can bring in Punky's stuff and say your good byes if you'd like." Peter explained. Henry, Mrs. Johnson, and Cherie went with Sophie and Punky followed Peter.


	4. Chapter 4

"So Punky, do you know why you are at Horizon?" Peter asked. This wasn't generally the first thing he asked but the situation with her family and friends seemed so unreal that he felt compelled.

"Yeah. I messed up. I borrowed a car without asking." Punky answered, looking down, her loose curly hair falling around her face. Her eyes had the wet shine of unshed tears to them.

"And why did you do that?" Peter asked.

"I thought I saw my mom. I heard she was around and I haven't seen her in so long. I just want to catch up to her again. She got on a bus. I couldn't keep up on foot." Punky sadly explained.

"Okay. Well the rules at Horizon are simple. No sex, drugs, violence, or inappropriate touching. Everyone splits the chores. There is a chart that shows who is assigned to which chores. I'll have to search your bags before you can get them back. Any questions?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. Are those really all the rules? I mean I'm not complaining or anything, but they seem too easy. Like, if someone started a food fight would they get in trouble?" Punky asked.

"That would fall under violence Punky." Peter said.

"Oh." Punky replied, less enthusiastic sounding than she had been a moment before.

"You are assigned to a group called the cliffhangers. After you see the nurse, I'll introduce you to the rest of the group." Peter told her.

"The nurse? But I'm not sick. I just had a checkup a few weeks ago." Punky said.

"Every new student has to see the nurse." Peter said.

"Oh man, a new place and having a doctor's appointment on the same day. What a bummer." Punky commented. There was a knock on the door and Peter opened it.

"Penelope's family is ready to say their goodbyes." Sophie said.

"Excuse me ma'am but everyone calls me Punky." Punky stated.

"Oh, sorry Punky. Everyone calls me Sophie." Sophie responded before rushing back to Punky's family.

"Well, come on." Peter said leading Punky back to Henry, Cherie, and Mrs. Johnson.

"Now you take care of yourself. Anything goes wrong you call us." Mrs.' Johnson said giving Punky a big hug. "We'll take legal action if necessary." She continued, but the last part was said pointedly toward Peter and Sophie.

Oh Punky, I'm gonna miss you. But boy are you lucky. You should see the boys around here. What a bunch of hunks." Cherie whispered while hugging Punky. She slipped a note into Punky's jacket pocket.

"Oh Cherie." Punky said, seeming like she was about to laugh and about to cry at the same time. Last was Henry. She noticed his car was a lot emptier than it had been and the canoe was missing. This was really it.

"Bye, Henry." Punky said, feeling especially sad as previous goodbyes flooded her mind.

"Never goodbye Punky. Always see you later." Henry replied hugging her.

"See you later Henry." Punky said quietly. Peter had to gently prompt her to come back inside the main office. It seemed she would stay out there with her Dad and friends forever if he let her.

Peter was searching her things while Punky seen the nurse. She had a few unusual items. While it was true in the past that a few overzealous parents had packed tents and sleeping bags for their teens, as had Punky's dad apparently, this was the first time a parent had brought an entire canoe. He didn't see the harm in it though. It was properly marked with Punky's name and Henry signed the form clearing Horizon of damage costs without any objection.

The nurse led Punky into Peter's office and handed him a plastic bag with the items Punky had been carrying. Peter looked at it. A quarter, 3 small erasers in various shapes, and a note. The nurse left.

"What is this paper?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. Cherie must have slipped it into my pocket when she left. We pass notes that way sometimes." Punky said. Peter went to read it.

"Hey wait!" Punky objected. "That might be private. I don't even know what it says yet."

"If you want this note I have to read it first." Peter told her.

"I can't believe it. There should be a law against that. Wait hey isn't there?" Punky asked.

"Not at Horizon. When the judge put you into the care of Horizon, you lost that right." Peter explain.

"What?" Punky asked, her voice wavering. This wasn't about the note anymore. "You mean…but Henry's still my dad right? I'm not…an orphan?" Punky asked alarmed.

"No, of course not. It just means that for the time you are here that we are legally responsible for you. Once you get out you go back with your family." Peter said.

"My real family…Henry…right? I mean, no one is going to try to foster me out again right?" Punky asked worriedly.

"Right. I think you misunderstood, Punky." Peter said. And I think I need to read your file more thoroughly, Peter added silently. He had read the note during Punky's outburst and handed it to her now. Punky tucked it into her pocket to read later.


	5. Chapter 5

"These are the other female cliffhangers. You'll be sharing a cabin with them. You'll meet the guys later." Peter said. "Cliffhangers, a new student has arrived." Peter continued.

"Hi everyone. I'm Punky Brewster." Punky announced before Peter had the chance to introduce her.

"I'm Juliette!" Juliette came up and introduced herself right away. Peter, seeing that everything seemed to be going well, took that moment to slip out of the cabin. "That's Daisy, and Shelby, and over there is Jess." Juliette explained when no one else bothered to introduce themselves.

"Welcome to the nut house." Shelby said menacingly.

"Oh ignore her. That's just Shelby being Shelby. So why were you sent here? Ooh let me help you unpack!" Juliette suddenly exclaimed forgetting her question of just a moment before. She liked to see if new students had anything good or fashionable and if she could borrow it.

"Thanks." Punky said setting down her large brown suitcase and two duffle bags on the bed. One duffle bag was rainbow and the other was navy blue. She opened the suitcase first. Punky was a little disappointed to see that Henry had mostly packed her jeans. It made sense since she would be doing all sorts of wilderness activities, but she preferred her skirts and multicoloured leggings or tights. Juliette showed her where she could put her clothing and other stuff. The suitcase was all clothing and toiletries.

When Punky unzipped the navy blue duffle bag she found her sheets, pillow, and comforter from home. She hugged them. She felt like she wanted to cry all the sudden, but she was happy too. Henry, Cherie, and Mrs. Johnson cared about her so much. She couldn't be sure who thought to pack her bedding because she knew it could have been any or all of them and the realization made her heart swell with love.

"Wow that's a lot of colour." Daisy commented.

"Yeah, and I thought you over packed Queenie, but the new girl's the worst case I've seen here." Shelby remarked.

Jess just looked on from over on her bed. She had been quiet since she had come to Horizon. People even knew her as 'the quiet girl' so no one thought it was strange that she hadn't said anything since Punky's arrival.

The rainbow duffle was unzipped to reveal a few odds and ends, included Punky's old doll Henrietta, that she hadn't play with in years.

"What a baby!" Shelby exclaimed laughing. Punky stared at her intensely.

"You know why my dad Henry packed this?" Punky asked angrily.

"Because you are too much of a baby to go to troubled teens school without it." Shelby cruelly guessed.

"No. You wanna hear why?" Punky asked.

"Not really." Shelby said looking bored yet slightly amused. No one else said anything.

"I want to know." Came a low voice from the corner of the room.

"Jeez Jess." Shelby said rolling her eyes. Punky looked at Jess and started to explain.

"When I was really little I had a doll named My. She looked just like this but I had her so long that My began to fall apart so Henry bought me a new doll and threw away My. But I loved My and no doll could replace her. So Henry went down to the dump and searched for My, but he couldn't find her. When he came back home Henry gave me this doll." Punky said holding up Henrietta. "He thought that he could convenience me it was My but I knew it wasn't. He told me how hard he looked and tried to make it right but he just couldn't. Henry put this in here so that I would remember that sometimes a mistake is made and it can't be fixed back, but it can still get better than it was when the mistake was made." Punky said boldly.

"That's neat." Jess said.

"What a load of crap." Shelby said. "Cry me a river Miss Hallmark."

"I think it's sweet." Juliette said.

"You would." Shelby said rolling her eyes. Daisy just stared at the doll like she was a bit creeped out. Henrietta had gotten pretty beat up over the years.

"Tis time to feast." Daisy announced as she looked at the clock.

"Huh?" Punky asked.

"Dinner newbie." Shelby explained.

"Oh." Punky said, not sure where to go.

"Follow us." Juliette told her.

As she entered the mess hall a wave of relief rushed over Punky. Students at tables, people in line for food, and trays. This is like school, she thought. She was grateful for something that seemed so normal in this new place. After getting her food she sat down next to the other cliffhangers.

"Whoa we got a newbie?" Scott asked surprised.

"I'm Punky." Punky said cheerfully. "I just arrived this afternoon."

"What did you do?" Auggie asked looking her up and down. Her clothes hurt his eyes but she seemed too innocent to be at a place like Horizon.

"My guess is drugs." Ezra said, also looking at her outfit. He thought he outfit must look awesome to someone who was high.

"Of course not." Punky said cheerfully. "I stole a car." Everyone at the table stopped eating and looked at her.

"Well I didn't mean to." She added and started eating her own dinner.

"What do you think of Horizon so far?" Ezra asked.

"Oh I like it. I thought it would be awful but it doesn't seem that bad, like summer camp. I miss my friends and Henry though." Punky said. Again everyone stopped eating and stared at her.

"What?" Punky asked.

"Yo, this girl is whack." Auggie said.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Punky went to her new classes. She didn't notice the stares her all Lisa Frank school supplies produced. Some of the classes seemed like they might be too hard and other seemed like they would end up being too easy. She knew it was still too early to know for sure. Breakfast had went well except that the food wasn't as good as Punky was used to. Lunch went well too.

After lunch all the cliffhangers went on a day hike. Sophie told Punky that she didn't have to go because she was new, but Punky wanted to go. One thing she didn't have was her own backpacking bag so she had to settle for a boring grey one.

"Punky! Punky! Where did you go?" Sophie called for the she wasn't even sure what time since they had started the hike. Punky seemed to wander off to go look at an animal, nest, plant, or other random object every few minutes. She made a mental note to test the new student for ADD.

"I was just looking at some neat speckled rocks Sophie." Punky said walking back over to the group. Sophie sighed. This wasn't working.

"Okay Cliffhangers. Now we are going to pair up. Everyone find a buddy and then we will do a nature scavenger hunt. The first team to come back with every item on the list wins." Sophie explained handing out half sheets of paper with a list printed on them to each team.

The teams were Scott and Auggie, Ezra and Juliette, Shelby and Daisy, and Punky and Jess. Everyone had a list that read:

*3 different leaf species

*brown twig

*green twig

*green moss

*grey moss

*unusual natural item of your choice

"Meets back here in 15 minutes whether you found it all or not." Sophie called as each team started walking into the woods in different directions.

"Ugh. How many of these have we done since I've been here?" Shelby asked.

"It's better than a more strenuous activity." Daisy said. "Everything we've done at Horizon has been done repeatedly. At least we aren't rock climbing today."

"That sad thing is how true that is." Juliette commented as she and Ezra walked by.

"Privacy no longer exists." Shelby stated.

"Hurry up Cliffhangers! There's not long to find this stuff!" Peter called out.

"Hey Jess, I found the grey moss." Punky said.

"Here put it in with the green moss." Jess said opening the plastic bag every team was also given. "I found the sticks already."

"So that leaves…leaves… and an unusual item." Punky said reading the list.

"Why don't you go find something unusual Punky and I'll find the leaves." Jess suggested.

"Okay." Punky said running off. Jess found the leaves quickly, but she couldn't find Punky. Jess wasn't worried. She knew everyone would be back at the starting spot in about 5 minutes anyway.

"I found something awesome." Punky whispered to Jess as everyone came back to the starting stop. Peter and Sophie were a little worried at first because everyone was there except Punky. She showed up last. Peter and Sophie went around checking what everyone had and telling them to leave their unusual item until last. Each group had found all the items on the list.

"Our unusual item is this stick covered in mold." Shelby said, her voice monotone.

"Notice that it has several different colours of mold growing on it. Green, white, grey, and this even appears to be a shade of blue." Daisy continued.

"Thanks guys. Next up Scoot and Auggie." Peter announced.

"Well uh we found this mushroom." Auggie said holding up a squashed mushroom that looked half missing.

"We think something ate part of it." Scott stated.

"Okay. Ezra and Juliette, you're up." Peter said.

"Ezra hold it up." Juliette commanded. Once he had she continued. "We found this really gross glowing caterpillar. The stick it's on isn't spectacular, but it might be poisonous or something."

"Okay, you can just put that back somewhere. How about on that tree." Peter said. "Punky, Jess."

"We found something amazing. Astounding. Deep in the forest. In the dark, dense undergrown, we found…" Punky held her item up. Jess looked at it for the first time too.

"A stick with a leaf on it." Jess finished sounding unsure. Peter frowned.

"Look closer guys, Jess is such a kidder." Punky said. Suddenly the stick moved and so did the leaf, separately from each other.

"It's a stick bug." Sophie explained. "And that is a bug on it that only appears to be a leaf."

"That's pretty cool." Ezra said.

"So you're holding the actual bug?" Shelby asked. Punky suddenly dropped it.

"Ewwww, I hadn't thought of it like that." Punky said wiping her hands on her shirt. Everyone laughed.

"Well, everyone found some pretty interesting items. Isn't it amazing what is hiding in these woods? We will head back to Horizon now. We should arrive just in time for dinner." Peter announced.


	7. Chapter 7

Punky couldn't sleep. Ever since lights out she had been tossing and turning. She couldn't seem to find a comfortable spot on her bed. She finally got up, put on her slippers, and walked outside the cabin. It was a nice night out with a bright moon illuminating the campus. Punky sat on the steps of the cabin. After a few minutes she stood up and started wandering around the campus. When she got to the gazebo she heard something moving in the bushes. Before she could run, something tumbled out. Punky screamed.

"Be quiet or they'll here you." The shape said. As it got off the ground and stood up Punky realized it was…

"Allen!" Punky said, as if she had said it a million times. Then she did a double take. "Allen! What are you doing here?"

"Shhh! We'll get in trouble if one of the counselors hear." Allen said. "Punky? What are you doing here? Wow, I never thought I'd see you again."

"Yeah same here. I haven't seen you in years. Why did you get sent here?" Punky asked.

"Well, things didn't go so well after my parents' divorce." Allen said sitting on the steps of the gazebo. Punky sat down next to him. "I got in a lot of fights at my new school."

"Fighting?" Punky asked.

"Nobody liked me Punky. I would have come back and lived in your treehouse, but I couldn't afford the plane ticket. Every day I went to my new school and every day no one liked me. They said I was stupid. It would have been okay if I was good at something, anything. But I am not even good at sports. One day things went too far and I got in a fight. I have been getting in fights ever since."

"Oh Allen." Punky said hugging him.

"But why are you here Punky?" Allen asked.

"I stole a car." Punky said. At Allen's look of surprise she went on. "I didn't mean to. I was looking for my mom. Apparently judges don't care about that type of thing. Or police officers."

"Wow. That's too bad Punky. At least we got to see each other again." Allen said. Suddenly they both froze. They hear someone nearby.

"It is probably one of the counselors doing their rounds. We better get back to our cabins." Punky said.

"Yeah. Hey Punky, come to my cabin tomorrow and I'll introduce you to all my friends. I'm in Ridgerunners." Allen said.

"Okay, I'll try. Lunchtime." Punky said before quickly running back to her cabin. As she laid in her bed she let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't gotten busted for being out after lights out. She felt asleep quickly after that.


End file.
